


Warmth

by Eos_Red



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-08-15 12:24:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8056213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eos_Red/pseuds/Eos_Red
Summary: "Tsuna was always warm." He viewed the world differently, because along the five traditional senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch - he has been gifted with a special sense for warmth. / about Tsuna's childhood, AU, sensor!Tsuna





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

Tsuna was always warm.

He may not have anyone to compare his experience with, but Tsu-kun knows that he has always felt warm. A very cuddly warm feeling that made him feel safe.

* * *

Kaa-chan is also warm, but different from Tsu-kun.

Kaa-chan's warm feeling is really soft and smaller than Tsu-kun's. But it doesn't make her colder, because she shines all the more brightly towards the outside. Sometimes Tsu-kun tries to grab the 'outside-shining', but Tsu-kun has never succeeded, not even once. Still, Tsu-kun will continue to try, he won't give up.

Kaa-chan is really amazing. She is the first person who showed Tsu-kun that the warm feeling can be used actively. Sometimes, Kaa-chan makes these pretty flowers around her, mostly when she is really happy.

Tsu-kun's warm feeling stays in Tsu-kun like water in a cup, it doesn't do much. He has to admit that he finds it a bit boring, but Tsu-kun is glad he always has his warm feeling. He really can't imagine a Tsu-kun without it.

* * *

Sometimes, Tsu-kun also feels a very strong warm feeling (later he learns it can be called 'heat').

It was so warm, Tsu-kun would have sweated if he could have felt it like the normal warmth, like when he is playing under the sunshine, especially in summer. No, Tsu-kun wasn't afraid of the strong warm feeling. Even if such heat sometimes reminds him of the oven in Kaa-chan and Tsu-kun's kitchen.

Although Tsu-kun has been banned from it for a while now, because one time he touched the oven while it was baking some cookies, and the oven slightly burned Tsu-kun's hand. It had really hurt, but Tsu-kun knows the oven didn't mean to, so Tsu-kun can forgive the oven. Nonetheless, now it's only Kaa-chan's oven.

Tsu-kun doesn't always get near enough for him to be able to touch the man who is heat. Tsu-kun doesn't know who the heat-man is, but Tsu-kun remembers dirty blond hair, like the sand on the playground. He also remembers the funny feeling in his stomach when heat-man gave him a piggyback ride. Heat-man really loves those, because he always gives one to Tsu-kun when he visits and stays long enough to play with him. Tsu-kun can tolerate that.

What Tsu-kun can't tolerate and really dislikes is the horrible smell. Sometimes, heat-man drinks from some bottles that also smells horrible. And then he sleeps on the floor, sprawled out like he's ready to make some snow angels. Tsu-kun wonders if heat-man tries to do the thing that Kaa-chan does. Only Kaa-chan does it really well, because afterwards she smells like flowers. She told Tsu-kun once that she puts the flower water on herself to smell like that. Tsu-kun can't remember the name of the flower water, only that it starts with 'p'.

* * *

Tsu-kun doesn't know if he likes going outside. There are lots of interesting things. However, there were a few times when Tsu-kun just felt really overwhelmed.

(Later, Tsuna theorizes that he had been exceptionally flame sensitive, because his very young self hadn't learnt yet how to effectively filter all the information that his special sense provided him with.)

Very early on, Tsu-kun doesn't remember when, he had been able to sense a warm feeling even from trees. Thankfully, it only extended to the many-years-old trees. Therefore, he hadn't regarded other plants like grass, flowers, bushes and even saplings the same as those warm trees in the past. Because the former never possessed the warm feeling that the many-years-old trees had. Just like Kaa-chan and Tsu-kun had. So those plants would be more similar to stones, right?

Or maybe their warm feelings were just so tiny that Tsu-kun couldn't sense them.

But Tsu-kun tried not to think about that, because it would make him feel guilty for thinking the trees were better plants than the others such as flowers, when they were in fact not any poorer in warmth. It would be like saying Kaa-chan isn't the same as Tsu-kun, just because Kaa-chan's warm feeling was colder. Thinking that, Tsu-kun had understood that the other plants would be upset.

Tsu-kun had always wondered why saplings didn't have the same warm feeling as trees. Kaa-chan told him that saplings are the children of trees. Saplings grow into trees someday. Therefore, shouldn't the saplings also have a warm feeling, just like the older trees and Tsu-kun? He had always been told that children grow stronger, so they can become adults in the future. Tsu-kun didn't understand why the warm feeling would need to grow in trees, because Tsu-kun was already completely filled with his warm feeling. Tsu-kun thought he was right. Didn't it make sense that especially the children would have that warm feeling to protect them?

Tsu-kun definitely (almost) always feels safe. As a matter of fact, when Kaa-chan wanted Tsu-kun to sleep in his own room – alone, in the dark – he managed to stay (long enough) in his room (to fall asleep). Tsu-kun wouldn't have been able to do that without his warm feeling. It comforted Tsu-kun enough for him to keep being brave.

(Although the next morning Tsu-kun still cried to Kaa-chan, unable to keep the feeling of being scared from last night inside him. But Kaa-chan said she was still proud of Tsu-kun for enduring it so long.)

The topic revolving around the plants slowly faded from Tsu-kun's mind along with the ability to feel the trees.

Instead, animals have come to his attention. The warm feeling Tsu-kun gets from them is different than the warm feeling he got from the trees. As young as he has been then, Tsu-kun has only felt the warm feeling of trees as something really foggy. Tsu-kun has to concentrate if he wants to feel one tree at a time. Most of the time they are like mist, drifting about in the background and not bothering Tsu-kun when he has gotten used to the feeling. Especially near parks and forests, because there are lots of them standing together very closely.

Animals feel small. They feel more solid, but their warm feelings are a lot smaller than Kaa-chan's.

Older Tsuna would rectify his younger self who hadn't seen any animals bigger than the average dog yet. It varies with their sizes, but it stands that their warm feeling is always smaller than the humans.

It might be because humans are capable of more complex emotions and are able to regret more, which is an important key to the Dying Will Flames. The complexity which animals lack is the possibility of feeling emotions outside of a life-and-death situation, but experiencing them just as intensely as the desperation felt in a life-threatening situation.

Only the box weapons are an exception, they are in a whole different league above normal animals.

Tsu-kun has a right to feel afraid of chihuahuas. They have really sharp teeth and they bark really loudly. Tsu-kun doesn't see any good in them. Besides, their warm feeling is so small, it doesn't comfort Tsu-kun at all. That's why he likes to hide himself in Kaa-chan's hugs. They are comforting, warm and make him feel the best feeling ever. Not because Kaa-chan can also protect Tsu-kun from the chihuahua then.

 

* * *

**A/N:**

**Anyone interested in how sensor Tsuna would react to people he meets later on?**

**If yes, should Tsuna stay little – which could make it more AU, like meeting Varia early, and so on – or should Tsuna grow older?**

**Please review.**

 


	2. Chapter 2

Anyone who finds _that_ particular essay, which Tsuna wrote in his 2nd grade, would heartily laugh into his face.

After all, it proclaims to the world that his dream was to become a giant robot. However, what people don't often ask is the question 'why' that has been omitted from the essay.

* * *

Tsu-kun doesn't have to go to kindergarten today. And Tsu-kun isn't sick, so he can fully enjoy the day at home.

Unlike some others that are Tsu-kun's age, he doesn't have to go there almost every day. Tsu-kun only has to go when his Kaa-chan is too busy buying food or helping out her friends. Still, even then Tsu-kun only stays for a few hours and doesn't have to wait long until Kaa-chan comes to pick him up.

Tsu-kun heard it's because Kaa-chan doesn't work like other children's Kaa-chan and Tou-chan. Sometimes, Tsu-kun wonders why he doesn't have a Tou-chan like them, but then Tsu-kun thinks that he only needs Kaa-chan anyway and quickly forgets the matter at hand.

On other days, Kaa-chan takes Tsu-kun with her to visit her friends. Especially the old couple a block away from Kaa-chan and Tsu-kun's home. Tsu-kun is glad he doesn't have to walk too long, because after playing and talking at the old couple's house, Tsu-kun is so sleepy that Kaa-chan has to carry him home.

On the kindergarten-free days, Tsu-kun was allowed to watch a bit of TV, which he always enjoys watching. Afterwards, he would play the story himself with his stuffed toys. Or he draws about it, but Tsu-kun knows that he can't draw as pretty as girls draw. Like his Kaa-chan, the pretty ginger-haired girl in his kindergarten and her best friend with the long wavy black hair. Although Hana-kun – Tsu-kun overheard the ginger-haired girl call her best friend with that – doesn't like to share what she draws with the rest of the group. Tsu-kun is lucky enough to sit near her in the drawing-time, so he sometimes catches glimpses of her drawn pictures.

* * *

Tsu-kun suddenly wakes up and rubs his eyes. He must have fallen asleep while thinking about the past. Refocusing his attention to the TV screen, his eyes widen and his mouth forms an 'o' on its own. The channel that is shown on screen is airing a new series about a humanoid toy that grew to the size of a building in order to fight against evil monsters who have invaded the human settlement.

Excitedly, Tsu-kun runs to his Kaa-chan who has been sitting on a nearby couch and knitting. Having drawn her attention towards himself, Tsu-kun points to the screen. She only smiles at Tsu-kun, remarking how cute her son is, and returns to her knitting. Still fascinated by the show, Tsu-kun hasn't paid any attention to Kaa-chan. After a few minutes have passed, he tucks at her sleeve again (unintentionally disrupting her knitting pattern) in order to ask what was happening in a particular scene. Putting her knitting beside her, she describes the scene:

_The giant robot shoots a red laser from each of his hands towards the equally giant green dinosaur, thus finally defeating it. Having lost all its energy, the giant robot slowly shrinks to its original size, all the while basking in the cheering of the rescued citizens._

When Kaa-chan caught a glimpse of the clock shown on screen, she turned the TV off and went into the kitchen to make dinner.

Meanwhile, Tsu-kun is still sitting where Kaa-chan has left him in the living room. After the initial excitement, something has caught Tsu-kun's attention. Unconsciously, Tsu-kun walks around the room, gathering his pencils and white sheets of paper, still deep in thought.

Tsu-kun is pretty sure that he has seen the red lasers shooting directly from the giant robot's hands. But the hands itself haven't changed at all. How did the robot shoot the lasers then? Where did the lasers come from? The obvious answer is from the inside of the robot. And _that_ seemed really familiar.

Tsu-kun has drawn a robot with both hands raised, red lasers shooting away from him, but he has also added red in the middle of the robot. Furrowing his eyebrows together, Tsu-kun thought really hard.

_Fire._

The red colour of the lasers reminded Tsu-kun of warmth, heat and the fleeting red streaks in a fire.

But no, if it were simply the colour red, then fire wouldn't be the first thing coming to his mind. It is the location of where the warmth comes from. Yes, it reminds Tsu-kun of an incident a few weeks ago.

_Fire against Fire._

* * *

–– Flashback ––

Tsu-kun was in kindergarten that day and it rained really hard, so no one could go outside. But Tsu-kun was fine with that. Across the room, the bigger kids sat around a table. Tsu-kun knows that they are doing important work. Their teacher always gives lessons to the older kids in order to prepare them for school. Someday, Tsu-kun will be doing that, too.

Tsu-kun usually stays away from the bigger kids. Tsu-kun was afraid of them, because he sometimes sees the bigger kids bully other kids around his age. However, when he had to go past the study group that day, wanting to return a picture book back to the shelf, he got a peculiar feeling.

Looking around, he could pinpoint the feeling to an older boy with white hair. Tsu-kun secretly thought that the boy's hairdo looked like turf. Hesitating, Tsu-kun stood there not knowing what to do. But Tsu-kun felt really bad for some reason.

Therefore, Tsu-kun took all the courage he could gather and silently walked towards the white-haired boy, whose head was lying on the table. As discreetly as possible, Tsu-kun looked around again. No one paid him any attention. The teacher must have walked out of the room while Tsu-kun had still been hesitating on what to do.

Standing directly near the boy, the feeling was even stronger. And the boy's warm feeling was _wrong_. Tsu-kun did not know how, but he knew he had to help. So he put a hand on the boy's arm and shook. After increasing his shaking, the boy finally stirred. The older boy was still groggily blinking his eyes when Tsu-kun asked the boy if he was alright. But it didn't seem the boy had heard Tsu-kun, so he repeated the question. Finally, the boy seemed to have woken up enough to listen properly.

Seeing the very worried little brunette (who kind of reminded the white-haired boy of his little sister), he attempted to cheer the brunette up by loudly declaring his health and pumping his fists into the air. Unfortunately, it made the enthusiastic boy's world spin, losing his balance, he fell out of his chair and met the ground.

The effect was instantaneous. Everyone around the table heard the 'thump' and looked towards the source, saw the unconscious boy and began to panic. Consequently alerting the younger kids around the room, too. During the chaos, someone was smart and calm enough to go fetch an adult. Arriving to Tsu-kun and the fainted boy, Tsu-kun told them what had happened.

The adult brought the bigger boy to the infirmary, allowing Tsu-kun to tag along. After settling the patient on the infirmary bed, the adult went to get some more adults to help calm the other kids. Tsu-kun still stood at the infirmary's door, shyly peeking inside. He wasn't sure why he followed and if he could stay when he was technically unsupervised, so he remained silent.

Now in the near silence with only the doctor checking on his patient, Tsu-kun could get a better feel of the sick boy's warm feeling. If Tsu-kun could smell or taste it, he would say it reminded him of smoke. Bad tasting smoke with a bit of sourness as well. Tsu-kun didn't like it at all.

The doctor muttered something about 'fever', 'fighting against' and 'activation', but Tsu-kun didn't really understand what that meant. He saw the doctor roll up his sleeves and then put both hands on the boy's chest.

Tsu-kun was so startled, he almost lost his grip on the door, which would have made it slam shut very loudly and reveal his presence to the doctor. Tsu-kun didn't want to get caught and he certainly didn't want to cause an interruption for the doctor. The doctor had to help the older boy! What startled Tsu-kun was the _visible_ yellow glow around the doctor's hands.

Tsu-kun has never seen the warm-feeling, but he instinctively knew that the yellow glow was the warm feeling. The glow around the hands grew and steadily took form. It was nothing solid, but Tsu-kun saw that it was glittering. And it flickered, which looked exactly like fire would behave – a fire just with the wrong colouring. But it neither burned nor hurt the doctor or the boy.

Tsu-kun didn't know how long he just stood there, but at some point, he had closed his eyes. He could imagine how the yellow fire moved, he felt similar movement from where the boy lay. Only, that movement was kind of a frantic moving warm feeling, which slowly calmed down until it matched the movement of the doctor's fire.

Tsu-kun didn't notice when the bad feeling, which he had felt since earlier, left him at some point.

–– Flashback ends ––

* * *

Tsu-kun remembers clearly what he learnt that day.

Ryohei-nii's recovery was extraordinarily fast. Before the doctor noticed Tsu-kun, he had left and went back to his group's room. Soon after, Ryohei-nii who looked and felt as healthy as he first proclaimed, came rushing in, grabbed Tsu-kun's hand and introduced himself. Ryohei-nii practically demanded Tsu-kun to call him 'nii-san'. He also added that Tsu-kun would be Ryohei-nii's little brother from now on, since Tsu-kun was "so extreme" to notice him being sick like that.

When Tsu-kun arrived home with Kaa-chan, he asked her about a few things.

You can fight fire with fire.

At least, that's what Tsu-kun understood from what Kaa-chan said. He didn't remember everything, but Kaa-chan affirmed that the one sentence Tsu-kun remembers is not wrong. Personally, Tsu-kun thinks everyone should know that, in case a fire broke out and there wasn't enough water around to fight with.

From what Tsu-kun understood, the doctor was fighting with his fire against the sickness called 'fever'. Kaa-chan agreed with Tsu-kun that fever can feel like fire (or rather feeling as if one is on fire).

But even more importantly, the warm feeling, which Tsu-kun has known all of his life, can do really cool things! If the doctor can use his warm feeling by turning it into visible fire, then Tsu-kun should be able to do that, too. Just thinking about all the cool things he would be able to do already makes him giddy with excitement.

And he has a big brother now, too! It was a really good day for Tsu-kun.

Thinking about it now, Tsu-kun feels like he has finally understood.

The robot has been small, but he grew so huge! He can be a giant robot.

The giant robot has a warm feeling inside itself, too. And it can turn its warm feeling into a strong powerful laser. As far as Tsu-kun knows, laser is something similar to fire, because it's bright and make things burn (at least that's what it seemed like in the series).

The giant robot protects people and defeats the baddies. Furthermore, the people become really super happy after the giant robot has helped them out.

It's exactly what Tsu-kun wants to be! Big and strong, being able to protect, help people out and make them happy. Tsu-kun especially wants his Kaa-chan to be always happy.

Thinking back again – but for the last time today, because thinking so much makes Tsu-kun's head dizzy and he has become hungry, too – Tsu-kun decided something:

From now on, he should call the warm feeling 'Fire'. Tsu-kun thinks it fits the warm feeling much better than simply calling it 'warm feeling' – at least it is like that now, when he can sometimes feel the warm feeling flicker slightly, just like fire.

* * *

 _By the way, the order of the_ _events_ _don't necessarily mean that it's also the chronological order in which the events take place. I'm not even sure yet if_ _I can have them make completely sense._

_I try to take it slowly, so in this chapter, little Tsuna tells how he came to associate the warm feeling with its new name 'Fire' (didn't want to immediately jump towards 'Flame')._

_And_ _he_ _learnt the passive skill to_ _recognize the existence of flames in human_ _s_ _- > feels a slight _ _‘movement'_ _that resembles fire. But only a small movement;_ _for example, big movements like_ _a_ _flame flowing from one place to another is still out of his league._

 _There are also some other things implied, such as Hyper Intuition. Nana doesn't know anything about flames, little Tsuna just asked her a few questions and put_ _his information_ _together into what he_ _then_ _'deduced'._

 

**A/N:**

**Thank you all who read, followed, favourite-d or reviewed. I really appreciate it. *bowing***

**Hope you guys (and gals) liked this chapter.**

__(_ _ __P.S. I went back and corrected some (too complicated and awkward) wordings and added a few things. You don’t have to re-read the two chapters, just wanted to note it here._ _ __)_ _

**Don't hold back on the reviews, tips** **and ideas for this story** **are welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Orange_ is Tsuna's favourite colour for as long as he can remember.

Tsuna remembers his young self thinking how pretty his Kaa-san has looked like in the setting sun. The twilight casting the light _exactly_ the right way to turn the outer edges of her light brown hair into a faint shade of orange.

* * *

He may be biased, but he thought Kaa-san lacked absolutely nothing. She was beautiful, compassionate and kind – easily able to hold a candle to an angel. Her patience rivalled that of a saint, if her loving attitude towards the sorry excuse of a man he ought to call his father, his own often less than sub-par results regarding anything academic, and all the ruckus Lambo and all his friends from the mafia are causing, was of any indication.

Never had Tsuna seen his Kaa-san lose her temper or get really angry. (The sheer guilt her disappointed look can cause is more effective anyway.)

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

Since the 'Fire Incident' and meeting Ryohei-nii, Tsu-kun had paid special attention to people when he went outside. Kaa-chan didn't seem to have Fire like Ryohei-nii and Tsu-kun. Come to think of it, not a lot of people had a warm feeling that is also Fire… Maybe it was really rare?

It had been a while now since Tsu-kun went to kindergarten, so Tsu-kun hadn't gotten the chance to see Ryohei-nii again, too. Tsu-kun really hoped that Ryohei-nii wasn't mad at him and still wanted to be his nii-san.

For this reason, Tsu-kun was especially eager to go to kindergarten today. Not even the cloudy grey sky could dampen Tsu-kun's eagerness.

Although it dampened his clothes when it began to rain a few minutes later. Kaa-chan was unfortunately not fast enough to open both umbrellas quickly. It was not his fault when Tsu-kun's umbrella didn't want to open for him!

After giving his Kaa-chan a hug, Tsu-kun rushed into the kindergarten. But much to his disappointment, the older kids had a day trip, so Ryohei-nii wasn't here. Tsu-kun briefly wondered where they could have gone to in this kind of weather, before a teacher scolded him for dripping a little puddle and not getting a towel to dry himself.

A bit dejectedly, Tsu-kun found himself a book to hide himself behind with. Tsu-kun knows that the teachers don't like to see anyone sad, but right now Tsu-kun didn't want to talk to anyone.

Time passed, Tsu-kun had already eaten lunch with everyone. The first parents were arriving to pick up their children. Tsu-kun wondered where Kaa-chan was. Usually, she would have been here by now. Tsu-kun tried not to worry, but he couldn't help it. What if something happened to his Kaa-chan? What if she has gotten hurt?

Feeling really anxious, Tsu-kun couldn't just sit in the room. It didn't help much, but Tsu-kun went to the entrance anyway. There, he sat down and began his lookout for Kaa-chan. But no, he didn't see her. Everytime there was a passerby, Tsu-kun perked up. Until he saw that it was just a stranger or another parent, then he deflated again.

This repeated itself many times. But Tsu-kun didn't want to miss Kaa-chan coming. If he saw her as soon as possible (given that she was ok), then Tsu-kun could stop worrying sooner, too. That's what Tsu-kun thought.

Some from Tsu-kun's kindergarten group curiously glanced his way on their way out, hand in hand with their parents. Unlike the parents, they knew it was unusual that Tsu-kun hadn't been picked up yet, having seen his mother always coming earlier than everyone else (to some of their envy, for all those that didn't like being in kindergarten). Tsu-kun ignored them. Of course not intentionally, he was just completely absorbed in his lookout.

Tsu-kun didn't know how long he sat next to the entrance. There was no clock nearby and the rainy clouds blocked the sun, which might have been vaguely able to tell him about what time it was. Tsu-kun did notice that the number of incoming parents trickled down a lot. It made Tsu-kun feel even more uneasy. After some time, which felt like an eternity to Tsu-kun, he decided to go inside again.

To his surprise, only another boy was left in the room. Since this was the first time Tsu-kun stayed here this late in the day, he didn't know where the teacher was. Silence enveloped the room.

Having nothing better to do and not wanting to create too much noise by himself, Tsu-kun observed the black-haired boy. The boy didn't seem to have noticed Tsu-kun, just sitting there and looking down on his lap. He looked sad and lonely to Tsu-kun, which made Tsu-kun feel even worse.

Tsu-kun stared. And stared. Until he wasn't quite focusing on anything particular, just facing the direction of the other boy.

From one moment to another, he suddenly felt a bit dizzy. And that is when he noticed the heavy _something_ weighing him down. It was like a heavy blanket put onto his whole person. No matter how light or fluffy the blanket was, it didn't matter when it felt so very suffocating. Tsu-kun gulped. He shouldn't start to panic.

A soft sound interrupted him in his thought process, consequently distracting him from his would-be panic and the heavy _something_ in the air. Tsu-kun's eyes widened. It was the sniffling of the other boy. Immediately, Tsu-kun became concerned. Slowly, as to not startle the black-haired boy, Tsu-kun stood up and made an attempt to approach him.

_Step._

The _something_ in the air thickened.

_Another step._

Then he halted. Tsu-kun thought he just felt something move.

_There, again!_

It was really slow, but there was movement. It felt really sluggish, which reminded Tsu-kun of mud – earth mixed with lots of water – something that slides down a wall unevenly, sometimes slower, sometimes faster.

(Tsu-kun watched it happen once when some other boy threw with mud inside the room, then the boy got scolded really hard by a teacher. Tsu-kun definitely wouldn't do something like that himself.)

Tsu-kun tilted his head and squinted. The action didn't serve any particular function, but it helped him concentrate a bit better. Something about this feeling was familiar. It reminded him of the wrong feeling he got when he first met Ryohei-nii, only this felt completely different, too.

Again, a strong urge of wanting to help took hold of him, lending him the courage to convert his desire into action.

_Step. Step. Step._

_Stop._

Tsu-kun now stood in front of the crying boy. As gently as possible, Tsu-kun put a hand on the shoulder of the black-haired boy. It still startled the boy so much that he visibly jumped. Tsu-kun took a deep breath of air and asked the boy what was wrong.

The boy tried to brush Tsu-kun off, smiling and laughing again. Since there were no tears and the sniffling had been very quiet, it could have convinced Tsu-kun.

But it didn't. Far from it. The _something_ was still present, surrounding the boy. With or without it, in either case it wouldn't have convinced Tsu-kun, because the _smile_ (if it could be called that) was all wrong in what truly mattered. It _looked_ alright, but it _felt_ horribly forced and just _wrong_.

When Kaa-chan was happy and smiled, she was – in every sense of the word – bright. Shining.

When the old couple smiled at Tsu-kun, they were surrounded by this slow and warm air, radiating contentment, as if they just woke up from a really good cat nap.

When the many oba-san and oji-san at the shopping district smiled at Tsu-kun, it was accompanied by a small twinkle each time. It wasn't as noticeable as Kaa-chan or the old couple's smile, but many of them put together felt like something was tickling his head and elicited in him the urge to laugh.

All in all, Tsu-kun is pretty sure he knows better than some others what a smile is all about. When the boy forced himself to smile, the _something_ surrounding the still very sad boy seemed to have curled itself tighter around its target.

With that knowledge, Tsu-kun shook his head and told the boy firmly that Tsu-kun knew his companion was still sad. That evidently surprised the black-haired boy, because he dropped the fake smiling in his shock. Seeing his chance – and before Tsu-kun lost the confidence he somehow found himself having at this very moment – Tsu-kun asked again what was bothering his companion, Tsu-kun also assuringly added that he would definitely listen and not tell anyone else if his companion didn't want to.

* * *

The boy looked into Tsu-kun's eyes and after a while, his companion must have ascertained to himself the sincerity of Tsu-kun's words. Moreover, his companion – who introduced himself to Tsu-kun as Takeshi – told him everything in complete honesty.

It was like a flood had opened, with each word that Takeshi spoke, the _something_ lost some of its weight and slowly began to recede back into Takeshi. Like the water washing away the mud until nothing obstructed its way, flowing smoothly down the surface. Takeshi was still sad, but it didn't have the suffocating quality anymore.

Tsu-kun didn't know how he could help his newly made friend, so he only listened attentively, but it seemed enough for Takeshi.

(In the back of his mind, Tsuna sometimes still hardly believed that the one and only amazing Takeshi would want to be his friend.)

Takeshi told Tsu-kun that recently Takeshi's Kaa-chan went to heaven – a place from which she couldn't return back to Takeshi and Takeshi's Tou-chan – so he and his Tou-chan were really sad and missed her. Because of the absence of his Kaa-chan, his Tou-chan had to work more, so Takeshi would stay in kindergarten the longest. All his friends didn't understand why Takeshi didn't really want to smile and be happy, but Takeshi didn't want to upset them so he forced himself to smile and laugh around them. He especially didn't want to worry his Tou-chan.

Tsu-kun felt sad for his friend. Tsu-kun tried to comfort Takeshi by telling him about what he heard from his Kaa-chan:

Tsu-kun's Tou-chan had become a star, so it was only Tsu-kun and Kaa-chan.

Maybe Takeshi's Kaa-chan can visit Tsu-kun's Tou-chan at night, so she wouldn't be alone at the beginning and has someone to help her settle in the new place. Sometimes, Kaa-chan would show Tsu-kun a postcard from Tou-chan. Tsu-kun's Tou-chan and Takeshi's Kaa-chan might not be able to return, but they could exchange mails.

This brightened up Tsu-kun's friend, which in turn made Tsu-kun very happy.

And then, Tsu-kun's Kaa-chan entered the room. Tsu-kun immediately ran towards her. He also hugged her tightly while she apologized. A friend of hers needed help, having hurt themselves and thus being limited in their mobility. She had lost track of time and rushed here as soon as she had realized how late it was.

Tsu-kun wasn't really listening, just glad that his Kaa-chan was completely fine.

Tsu-kun almost forgot about Takeshi, ready to go home with Kaa-chan, when he remembered that his friend would be all alone. Tsu-kun could have kicked himself, leaving his friend like that was no different than what the others were doing.

Turning to his Kaa-chan, Tsu-kun gave her the most adorable puppy dog eyes he could produce and asked if he could stay until Takeshi's Tou-chan came. Before Kaa-chan could say anything, Takeshi interrupted. Looking sheepish and rubbing behind his head with a hand, he told them it was alright, since his Tou-chan should be coming any minute now.

Just as he said that, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi – Takeshi's Tou-chan – came in. Takeshi, imitating his new friend Tsuna, rushed to his Tou-chan for a hug. Surprised by the genuine smile he saw on his son's face, he returned the hug and smiled back (until his son rasped for air and he had to let go, lest he wanted his son to meet death by hug).

Finally noticing the audience, Takeshi's Tou-chan sheepishly turned towards Tsu-kun's Kaa-chan, who in return introduced herself as Tsu-kun's Kaa-chan – Sawada Nana – and then told him how they were just talking about him.

* * *

After exchanging a few more words, together they left the kindergarten with the promise that when they were free, Tsu-kun and his Kaa-chan would come by Takeshi's home, which was also a restaurant called TakeSushi.

Tsu-kun still heard Takeshi telling his Tou-chan what Tsu-kun had related to Takeshi earlier – about Takeshi's Kaa-chan and Tsu-kun's Tou-chan possibly sending a mail to each of them – before his friend's voice faded away.

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

... Fading away like a piece of veil fluttering in the wind, trailing after both Yamamotos. With the presence of elder Yamamoto, Tsu-kun got a better feel towards their Fire. Yes, he finally identified the _something_ as Takeshi's Fire.

Tsu-kun hadn't immediately recognized the Fire because it was different from Tsu-kun's Fire, or Ryohei-nii's Fire. Along with the fact that Takeshi had been really sad and his Fire acting accordingly – becoming as heavy as lead, rolling off Takeshi in waves, uncontrolled – the Fire didn't act like Fire at all.

But now that it became lighter within Takeshi, adding elder Yamamoto's Fire presence, it was altogether a more noticeable amount and easier for Tsu-kun to feel the movement. The Fire of the Yamamoto duo were a lot calmer, their movement reminding Tsu-kun of sloshing water.

Moving almost languidly, their 'flickering' acted more like waves – a larger portion moving together smoothly, rather than small parts separating themselves ('jumping') before they returned to the mass again or maybe vanishing into the environment.

It was the opposite of Ryohei-nii's Fire that sometimes flickered rapidly. If it were visible, Tsu-kun would think Ryohei-nii's Fire might be yellow and glitter a lot like that doctor's Fire, who had helped Ryohei-nii that one time. A very blinding and energetic _Yellow_.

Tsu-kun didn't know why, but thinking about Takeshi's Fire made him think of the colour blue. Maybe because today, he was reminded quite often about water. Or because of the rain. The falling rain drops creating a constant, gentle and soothing pitter-patter in the background. Whatever may be the case, Tsu-kun thought _Blue_ suited Takeshi and Takeshi's Tou-chan perfectly.

´´(O^Q)``

 

* * *

**A/N:**

**Another chapter done. I hadn't thought I'd be able to write more than 1.5k words (again) - so I'm pleasantly surprised by myself :D**

**Now little Tsuna has met Ryohei and Takeshi, but hadn't had the chance yet to really bond with them.**

 

_I hope you readers aren't too bothered with how much I use 'Tsu-kun'. I just wanted to emphasize his young age this way – I heard that little kids particularly in Japan often like to refer to themselves in third-person (and I find it cute)._

_Who knows – right now, I'm developing the theories as I go. I say since Tsuna is so young, he can't control his ability, it's still out of wrack, sorta._

_How sensitive he is would be unpredictable at times. At least, that's my current excuse for no definite order/timeline in the events :P_

_Like I wrote, the hyper-sensitivity towards flames tunes down to a manageable level when Tsuna gets older. So while he's still young, it can be a bit like lottery for how he might react to certain people he meets. And it definitely also depends on the person he meets and how they handle their flames._

_It would be too monotone, if everytime he meets someone with strong flames, he just reacts the same ('too unbearable hot') - Wouldn't want him to develop a fear of meeting such people in the future when all the mafia people start to bust into his life ;)_


	4. Chapter 4

Tsuna was glad that Yamamoto Tsuyoshi had become his mother’s best friend.

They shared many things: both of them were excellent cooks, they were always optimistic, wonderful people and they each had to manage the difficulties of being a single parent.

The timing couldn’t have been any better when Nana had been introduced into elder Yamamoto’s life. The Yamamotos had just recently lost the most important female in their lives: Takeshi’s mother and Tsuyoshi-san’s wife – Yamamoto Kaori. Till this day, Kaori-san was the only love of Tsuyoshi-san. At first glance, people might not have seen the chemistry between them.

Tsuyoshi-san was a very athletic man, prone to laughing cheerfully and was not afraid to get dirty, having done various work such as construction building, helping out in the tropical section of a botanical garden – which required body strength and no fear of sweat in that kind of room temperature – and of course his passion for cooking, where the preparation of some ingredients could become a little bloody.

Kaori-san on the other hand had always been very frail, easily getting sick, her skin always a pale shade because of her confinement in either a hospital room or her own. She had never held a knife in her hands and couldn’t cook even if her life depended on it. Although Kaori-san had looked like a Yamato Nadeshiko, she had been very clumsy and failed to learn knitting, playing an instrument and how to effectively do any housework.

And yet, they had been very much in love. In their core, they both possessed the same gentle personality. Someone willing to do their best and help out any person in trouble they came across. One might think Kaori-san would become a burden to the young and enthusiastic Tsuyoshi-san, but it had been the opposite. It was Kaori-san who helped Tsuyoshi-san become the man he was today. In watching over Kaori-san, he had learnt to take some things in life slowly and had become someone people could rely on.

Everyday they had lived together, Kaori-san showered him with her love and joy for the simplest things. Never had he become bored, in the low times she had likewise found something for both of them to enjoy together. A smile had never been amiss from Monday to Sunday. Their daily lives had been an ever continuing exploration of each other and the world in which they lived in, even in such a small and peaceful little town like Namimori. Their son – Yamamoto Takeshi – was just the tip of the iceberg.

It wasn’t quite the same with Nana, never mind the years of absence she had to deal with, because her husband was still alive (but Tsuna hadn’t known that when he was younger), but Nana had provided an understanding ear to the mourning Tsuyoshi-san and she had sympathized with him instead of feeling pity that neither Yamamoto wanted. As perceptive as young Takeshi had been, he had not known how to react, so he had hid himself behind fake smiles. Unknown to him, this too, had pained Tsuyoshi-san who had immediately seen through his son’s mask. That is why Tsuyoshi-san had felt very grateful to both Sawadas.

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

Today, Tsu-kun would sleep over at his friend Takeshi’s home.

Tsu-kun had been invited to stay after Kaa-chan and Tsu-kun had eaten in their TakeSushi. The food was really yummy, almost as good as Kaa-chan’s cooking. Tsu-kun was a bit sad that Kaa-chan wouldn’t stay, but he was also really excited, because this was his first sleep over at a friend’s home!

After waving his Kaa-chan goodbye – for the second time actually, because Kaa-chan had quickly gone home to bring some of Tsu-kun’s things here, since TakeSushi wasn’t that far away from their home – Takeshi lead Tsu-kun up the stairs. Takeshi’s home was just above their restaurant. Tsu-kun found that really cool.

Both of them giggled a lot on their way to Takeshi’s room. When they arrived, Tsu-kun suddenly felt nervous. Tsu-kun didn’t know what one does for a sleep-over, but thankfully Takeshi didn’t give his friend much time to just stand in the middle of the room. Pulling out many toys and games, both of them played together until Takeshi’s Tou-chan had closed TakeSushi for the day and also finished cleaning up the whole place, squeaky clean, and made it ready for the next day.

When Takeshi's Tou-chan interrupted Takeshi and Tsu-kun, Tsu-kun groaned along with Takeshi, because they had been told to go and wash their teeth. Why would his Kaa-chan – and probably Takeshi’s Tou-chan as well, based on his friend’s similar reaction – always insist on that? Tsu-kun asked the question aloud. His friend didn’t know and laughed it off as an adult-thing. Takeshi’s Tou-chan only ruffled Tsu-kun’s hair.

The large hand felt warm and nice. So Tsu-kun decided to forgive Takeshi’s Tou-chan. Tsu-kun has seen his Kaa-chan brushing her teeth, too. Maybe everyone had to do it. Putting that yucky white thing on the brush and rubbing it onto his teeth then, that was the worst part. Fortunately, it only lasts three minutes, then Tsu-kun and Takeshi could go back to playing again.

Because his friend’s Tou-chan had to open up the restaurant really early again tomorrow, Takeshi told Tsu-kun they had to be quiet after they had changed into their pajamas, so his friend’s Tou-chan could sleep.

It was then that Takeshi thanked Tsu-kun again for that rainy afternoon in kindergarten. Takeshi had been really down and Tsu-kun cheered him up quite a lot. On the next day, Takeshi and his Tou-chan had written (mostly elder Yamamoto) and drawn (mostly Takeshi) on a postcard, so it would be sent to Takeshi’s Kaa-chan. Takeshi really hoped his Kaa-chan would like it and write back, of course only if she wasn’t too busy in heaven.

Tsu-kun and Takeshi still whispered for a long time while being comfortably tucked under their respective blankets. Going along with the secretive mood that had built up with the gradually vanishing light from the window, Tsu-kun told his first friend about the warm feelings and the Fire. This wasn’t even known to Tsu-kun’s own Kaa-chan because it never came up. Takeshi was immediately taken by the idea of having this Fire along with Tsu-kun and his Tou-chan. Takeshi briefly wondered why it was only them who had the Fire in them, but didn’t dwell on it very long. Takeshi was slightly disappointed that only Tsu-kun seemed to have the ability to sense it.

Tsu-kun also confided Takeshi in Tsu-kun’s own disappointment of not being able to do anything with his Fire. Optimistic as always, Takeshi cheered up his friend by saying that they could find out how to do it together, doing something with another person was more fun anyway. They sealed their “deal” of exploring their Fire together with a solemn pinky promise.

With the excitement of the day behind them, they finally fell asleep soon after.

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

However, it soon became obvious that neither knew anything about the mysterious Fire. Not only was Tsu-kun the only one who could sense its presence, not a lot of people had the Fire. Tsu-kun didn’t think most of the inhabitants of Namimori would be able to teach Takeshi and him.

(They had completely forgotten about Tsuyoshi-san. In retrospect, if Tsuna had to take a guess, he would say it was because Tsuyoshi-san’s flames were not only very similar to those of his son’s, his younger self had simply gotten so used to feeling them in TakeSushi, it became part of the background. Just like one would be used to all the things in their room, only when a fixed object has been moved, does it suddenly stand out again.)

Tsu-kun of course remembered the doctor that had healed Ryohei-nii, but he couldn’t be found anywhere in kindergarten. When Tsu-kun had asked a teacher, they said the doctor had been transferred just the other day. Subsequently, Tsu-kun and Takeshi's questioning had caught the attention of a certain “extremely” white-haired boy.

So Takeshi and Tsu-kun hadn’t been able to make any progress in their little mission, but this way Takeshi had gotten to meet Ryohei-nii. Since Ryohei-nii not only had a type of Fire as well, Tsu-kun knew Ryohei-nii was trustworthy. Thus, in order to fully explain Takeshi and Tsu-kun’s “hunting” after information, Tsu-kun didn’t leave out the explanation of his ability to sense warm feelings or Fire in a person. Ryohei-nii admitted he did not understand what he had been told right after Tsu-kun finished, which made Tsu-kun trip and fall flat on his face in surprise. While Takeshi helped Tsu-kun get up again – Tsu-kun’s face was slightly red and stung a bit, but Tsu-kun was used to it through his regular clumsy attacks – Ryohei-nii had simply continued shouting something with vigor.

Suddenly grabbing a startled Tsu-kun’s shoulder and slinging his other arm around Takeshi, Ryohei-nii then exclaimed very loudly that he would definitely help them out in this “extreme” endeavour. Only to gain the attention of a teacher who was supposed to supervise and teach _all_ the older children in their group during the usual study time. With quick strides, the teacher reached where the trio stood just a moment later and grabbed the boy, who had snuck out (a surprising feat indeed, for anyone who knew how the white-haired boy usually was) firmly by the hand – so Ryohei-nii wouldn’t slip away – and dragged him back to the table. The remaining two could only helplessly watch the teacher scold Ryohei-nii and Ryohei-nii heatedly replying back.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Since there was no information whatsoever about Yamamoto’s wife, I made something up.**

**Q: Should I keep up with the monologue-style of Tsuna or possibly add some direct speech now and then, too?**

__I think Iemitsu is a total baka. I rather like having Nana and Tsuyoshi as best friends, they just don’t strike me as the type to ever let go of their (first) love, deceased or not, I think they have a lot in common.  
_ _

__I totally love it when Carnivore Kyouya calls Tsuna “Small Animal” - it’s SO cute! But I haven't written about Kyoya yet.  
_ _


	5. Chapter 5

Interlude 1

 

**P.S. Please look at Note below, important announcement.**

* * *

 “Tsu-fishie~ Tou-chan is home!”

Tsu-kun looked up at Heat-man who barged into Kaa-chan and his home. And frowned.

Firstly, he didn’t like the nickname Heat-man had given him. Secondly, Kaa-chan was out for grocery shopping, so Tsu-kun was alone at home.

Normally, he didn’t mind that Heat-man could come and go as he liked, but normally Kaa-chan was here to stop this natural disaster from wrecking their house. Tsu-kun remembered all too well what had happened last time…

So he stood up and went in front of Heat-man, blocking him from coming into their living room. It did not deter the cheerful man in the slightest. Tsu-kun wondered if Heat-man even knew he was unwelcome right now.

It didn’t seem so.

“Come to greet your Tou-chan? Tsu-fishie is so adorable!”

“Kaa-chan isn’t home, so don’t come in.” Tsu-kun tried his best to emulate Kaa-chan’s disapproving tone.

“And I don’t have a Tou-chan”, he corrected Heat-man.

Tsu-kun really didn’t know why the man with the short sand-colored hair would say that, they didn’t even look alike. Just look at the similarity between Takeshi and his friend’s Tou-san. Besides…

“Kaa-chan said that Tou-chan has become a star. So you can’t be Tou-chan.”

“Aaaaawww~ Tsu-fishie is so cute when he’s being all smart like!” With that exclamation Heat-man picked up Tsu-kun, ignoring the protest from the smaller person, and was out fantasizing about his perfect family in his own little world.

Meanwhile, Tsu-kun’s train of thoughts went as followed: Heat-man called Tsu-kun smart. The sandy-haired man was praising Tsu-kun, right? So that meant Tsu-kun was right, he didn’t have a Tou-chan. But why would Heat-man be so happy if he was proven wrong by Tsu-kun?

Oh! It must have been a test! And Tsu-kun passed it with flying colors, since he didn’t give into Heat-man’s lies even once. Finally having solved the last puzzle, Tsu-kun showed his delight by joining in the Heat-man’s laughing.

Iemitsu took his son’s laughing as confirmation of their bond, immediately forgetting the previous conversation. His Tsu-fishie must have been playing ‘pretend’ when he arrived.

 

Older Tsuna would look back to this memory with exasperation and some relief. Because the baka of a ‘father’ – Tsuna had never seen Iemitsu as his father and never would – had dug his own grave.

For once, Tsuna was really grateful to Iemitsu’s own moronic and carefree attitude. In this case, it had protected him from ever thinking of Iemitsu as anything but a fleeting visitor. No strings attached meant not having this imbecile as a role model just because Iemitsu is his biological father.

Tsuna felt bad for Basil, he could never understand how Iemitsu roped the poor soul into looking up to that baka of a man. At least, it was a consolation that Basil did not catch Iemitsu’s idiocy. One could never be too sure if it wasn’t contagious.

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

“Hello, G.”

“GAH!”

A red-haired teenager fell onto his behind. Meanwhile, his intended target leisurely and serenely turned himself around to look at his fallen friend on the ground. The slightly raised eyebrow and the quirk of his friend’s mouth clearly told G that Giotto was amused.

G scowled and turned his head away from his friend. “Tche, another failure.”

“Don’t be upset. I already told you, you can never surprise me, my friend.”

G disliked it. His golden haired friend was right, of course. But that’s exactly what was irking him as hell. Since becoming best friends, even before that, G had never been able to surprise Giotto anymore.

For some freaking reason, Giotto always knew when G was near. Only in their first two meetings did G catch him off guard. When G asked his friend as to why that was, Giotto would only answer enigmatically, “because I had not gotten to know you yet.”

It left G more confused. He couldn’t believe that Giotto would really ‘know’ him only after so little time. Shouldn’t it take weeks or even months to really come to know a person? But Giotto had always been mysterious. G was sure Giotto was hiding something from him. It irritated him that Giotto wouldn’t tell his best friend. But he would be patient.

Other than that, everything was perfect. They got along really well after their rocky beginning. So what if the “rocky” part had been his own fault?! He would not ever bring _that_ to light. G went the extra mile and made Giotto promise to never tell a soul. The memory of their first meeting would be taken to their graves.

A hand appeared in front of G’s face. He instinctively grasped the hand, which pulled him up.

“Don’t dwell on it, my friend. Someday, I will tell you. Just trust me for now?” The fair-haired teenager smiled, as if he already knew the answer the redhead would give.

 _Maybe he did._ Another strange thing about his weird friend was that strong and scarily accurate intuition of his. G was grateful, because Giotto’s intuition made it possible to escape some dangerous situations, but G itched to know how it was even possible. What had made Giotto how he was today?

G shook his head. Giotto was right, of course he was. “Tche. You know I trust you with my life, don’t ask stupid questions.” His statement was rewarded with a happy smile from his strange friend. This was something he would never want to change. This was his life.

Later, his resolve to stay by Giotto’s side only strengthened with the addition of another redhead in their little family of misfits. Together, they dreamt of protecting their home, their town. The smiles and laughter of the people, the peace.

Slowly, their group grew. It ranged from a flute-loving Japanese, who sold his beloved instrument and took up swordsmanship instead in order to help them, to a creepy and ambitious nobleman with a strange hair style (in G’s opinion, it looked like a melon).

Indeed, what a colorful bunch his family was, the only thing they seemed to have in common was the fact that everyone had a funny quirk.

Sometimes he despaired, with all the ruckus they themselves caused when they – in fact – had sworn to protect the peace. But this was his life and he wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey guys and gals!**

**Here is an interlude with a bit of direct speech.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important:
> 
> I don’t know when I’ll be able to update again. Because starting next Monday, my Voluntary Year of Social Service is beginning. Very excited, since I’ll be going overseas. Haven’t even packed my suitcase yet. Got distracted with writing this chapter instead. Hehe :P  
> When my schedule is clear, I will continue writing, so please be patient with me.


	6. Chapter 6

Tsu was prone to clumsiness. But  _ this  _ time , it wasn’t his fault! The dizziness assaulted him all of a sudden. Who would blame Tsu for his reaction? Apparently, a certain black haired skylark would...

 

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

 

Tsu-kun had been on his way home from elementary school, completely alone.

 

At first, Tsu-kun had been very nervous about going to school on his own. And not to mention going home again. Alone,  _ without _ his Kaa-chan. What a chill inducing, frightful thought! But thankfully, Takeshi attended the same classes as Tsu-kun, so he was never truly alone. When Takeshi heard about Tsu-kun’s fear, the baseball loving boy happily offered his friend to walk together. Tsu-kun had immediately teared up, relieved and moved by his friend’s thoughtful consideration.

 

It gave Tsu-kun enough courage to appear determined and firm when the brunette clarified that Takeshi would only do so on the days the black-haired boy was free from his morning or afternoon club activities. Because Tsu-kun doubted not in the least that Takeshi would skip those in order to help a friend in need. Tsu-kun admired his friend’s selflessness and made it his duty to stop Takeshi from overdoing it, lest his friend neglected himself.

 

So today was one of the days Tsu-kun had to go home on his own. Tsu-kun shook his head to clear his mind of any negative thoughts. Then, he cheered himself up with images of Kaa-chan’s amazing home cooked meals. Merely a few more minutes separating him from a body and heart warming, still steaming, heavenly smelling and absolutely delicious tasting food.

 

Distracted by his imagination of the awaiting lunch, Tsu-kun didn’t notice the slightly tingling feeling over his skin, nor did he hear the sounds of thuds and groans nearby.

 

What did finally snap him out of his daydreams was not something pleasant at all. A sudden wave of nauseously whirling  _ air _ hit him. It also seemed to go through him or else Tsu-kun would have fallen backwards from the sheer force of it. Tsu-kun had no time at all to adjust to the sudden change of invisible pressure.

 

His first thought had been  _ ‘not again’ _ , because this strongly reminded Tsu-kun of the heavy weight of Takeshi’s sadness, which he only ever experienced once – on the day they had first talked to each other. But no, this felt different. Sad blue waves had reached the room’s furthest edges and filled the space relatively even – in a manner reminiscent to water filling up an empty vessel – and while the pressure had been a heavy burden, at least it had been bearable.

 

What was putting Tsu-kun through such a strong dizziness was not unlike a roller coaster ride, as opposed to the lethargic feel of an ocean. Involuntarily, an image of violently moving clouds popped up in Tsu-kun’s mind. Tsu-kun had never seen such fast clouds in real life! The clouds before his mind’s eye whirled around, changing their forms every second, chasing nothing and everything, never standing still. They lashed out and curled on themselves again and again, as if indecisive on what to do. However much they seemed threatening, they were far from the typical gray curtain of storm clouds.

 

The brunette swayed dangerously to and fro, finding no halt at all. Although Tsu-kun saw everything in blurs and couldn’t be sure which direction had been the front, Tsu-kun thought it was highly likely that he was staggering forward. ‘ _ Why would the world not stop spinning already’ _ , he wondered helplessly. Proportional to the steps Tsu-kun took forward, the nauseousness increased. But still, he gritted his teeth and continued to stagger onwards, because something told him going forward was better than to retreat.

 

After a small eternity, which hadn’t been much more than half a minute, Tsu-kun finally ran into something. His hands automatically grapped a part of it. After finding a somewhat firm stance again, Tsu-kun concentrated on the outside world again. Tsu-kun hadn’t noticed when his eyes had closed themselves, so he was surprised. It certainly was a miracle he didn’t trip!

 

At first, only black greeted his eyes. Confused, Tsu-kun leaned back. At last, his mind finally caught on what his senses have been relaying to him: his hands were wrapped around an arm, his face was only inches away from the sleeve of a black coat and he was leaning heavily on a person. Tsu-kun’s gaze traveled up to meet cool, steel colored eyes.

 

[Later on, Tsuna would wonder what had made it possible for his younger self to completely ignore the self-preservation instinct and common sense that told him one ought – under no circumstances – to do anything that would risk further irritation to one already irritated Hibari Kyouya. Tsuna would never entertain the idea that Hibari simply never meant harm (of the permanent type) to him, so that his Hyper Intuition never triggered his instinct to run (preferably far far away) from the demon prefect. Obsessed with the idea of discipline, Hibari was not known to be merciful. Hence Tsuna’s denial in spite of knowing Vongola was famous for its Hyper Intuition’s accuracy.]

 

As miserable as Tsu-kun felt, he couldn’t stop his tears. He knew his state was because of the stoic boy in front of him, so the logical next step was to make the boy stop being like that – whatever that was. Somehow, Tsu-kun knew the older boy wasn’t being deliberately harmful. To Tsu-kun, it felt more like a defensive nature with the way how the clouds shifted around now, projecting suspicion and tenseness. Had Tsu-kun felt better, he would definitely reassure the older boy that Tsu-kun’s proximity wasn’t ill-intended at all.

 

What escaped Tsu-kun’s mouth instead was a weak plea to stop. Before Tsu-kun could elaborate and before the raven haired boy could respond, the small brunette collapsed, unable to handle the inner turmoil of sensations and impressions.

 

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

“Herbivore, get up.”

Tsu-kun awoke from his sleep really comfortable and refreshed. He stretched his body like a cat, eyes remaining closed. Then, he sat up and rubbed his tired eyes while suppressing a yawn. Though he was confused why it wasn’t his Kaa-chan’s voice that greeted him, it didn’t compare to the confusion after he actually saw his surroundings. Tsu-kun had expected to see his bedroom, not where he currently was: sitting on a futon which lay in the middle of a sparely furnished japanese styled room.

Tsu-kun was sure that the Sawada house was built in a western style. And they certainly didn’t have shōji sliding doors, nor those dark cabinets and the pretty flowers on them or the white papers hanging on the wall with complicated looking squiggles drawn on them.

Looking all around, Tsu-kun’s gaze finally caught the figure sitting a meter away from him. He gave out a surprised squeak and tried to crawl backwards. But that only made the sheets tangle him up in a death grip, cutting his escape chances down to zero.

Like a deer caught in the headlights, Tsu-kun reluctantly looked up. And breathed out a sigh of relief. It was only the boy from before and not some scary bad man… or a ghost. Or a monster. A shiver ran down Tsu-kun’s spine. No! Tsu-kun was fine and the stoic boy was as calm as ever, so surely nothing bad had happened. Maybe the raven-haired boy rescued him from getting eaten by a monster and brought Tsu-kun here?

Smiling brightly Tsu-kun tilted his head and said, “Thank you so much for helping Tsu-kun, even if Tsu-kun doesn’t remember what happened. Where is Tsu-kun anyway? What’s your name? My name is Tsu-kun!”

Instead of returning the smile, the older boy furrowed his brows and stared intensely at Tsu-kun.

“Stop referring to yourself in third person, herbivore. It’s annoying. You fainted. This is my house. If you’re fine, then you can go,” he finally said.

Ignorant to the clipped way in which the stoic boy spoke and disregarding what his “rescuer” said, Tsu-kun asked about the strange word he just heard. “What’s a ha-bi-fo?”

The raven-haired boy clicked his tongue in irritation. His patience had never been very great, especially not in the presence of a herbivore like the little brunette. But Kyouya knew if he made the brunette cry, it would take even longer for his stray pick-up to leave.

He couldn’t understand what had urged him to slung the unconscious brunette over his shoulders and bring the herbivore to his house. Had he been in his right mind, Kyouya would have simply waited until Kusakabe Tetsuya – a reformed (read: completely beaten to an inch of his life by a younger Kyouya) ex-Yakuza member and now his his right-hand man – to arrive and let the pompadour-haired teen handle the aftermath of his disciplining of some no-name delinquents who dared to loiter around in his territory.

Now, he had to deal with this. Kyouya sighed mentally. “You are a herbivore, herbivore. I need your full name, or else I can’t take you home.”

Tsu-kun perked up at the mention of home and forgot his curiosity about the strange word the older boy kept calling him with. “Really? Nii-san can take Tsu-kun home? Tsu-kun’s name is Sawada Tsuna-…”, the brunette had to pause in order to remember his full name (since his Kaa-chan rarely used all the syllables of his name to call him) before he continued with his introduction, “… -yoshi! But Kaa-chan says it’s sooo long, so Kaa-chan just calls Tsu-kun ‘Tsu-kun’.” At the end of his explanation – unnecessary, in Kyouya’s opinion – Tsu-kun puffed up in pride. He remembered what Kaa-chan had taught him and he didn’t mess up.

“Hn. Wait here.”

Kyouya’s command was promptly ignored the moment Tsu-kun saw he was about to be left alone. The brunette clumsily untangled himself from the sheets and made a move to follow, but the glare sent his way stopped him in his tracks. “Please don’t leave me alone”, Tsu-kun pleaded. He watched as the older boy sighed and turned around again to face Tsu-kun.

“If you want to come, you have to abide to the house rules”, Kyouya waited for the herbivore to nod and continued in a strict tone, “First, stop that nonsense and use ‘I’ when referring to yourself, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You do not add a suffix such as ‘-kun’ to your own name. Secondly, be quiet and do not wander away from me, _behave_ and do not touch anything.”

Tsu-k-... Tsu didn’t quite understand everything Nii-san said, but he got the gist of it. Stop using the “-kun” and he can go with Nii-san. Tsu didn’t want to get lost or be alone, so following Nii-san was his intention anyway. Tsu didn’t understand why Nii-san had to repeat again what Tsu had asked of him, sounding as if Tsu would change his mind so easily. Not dwelling on it, Tsu smiled and eagerly nodded, showing he understood.

Satisfied, Nii-san turned around and went out the shōji sliding door. Tsu hurriedly got up on his feet and ran after Nii-san. “Nii-san still hasn’t told Tsu – no, Tsu wanted to say ‘I’ - what Nii-san’s name is.”

“Hibari Kyouya. And ‘told I’ would still be wrong. You have to say ‘told me’.” Kyouya didn’t stop nor look back, so he missed the astonished expression on his young guest. The amazed “Wow, Kyouya-nii is so smart!” exclamation on the other hand wasn’t missed. For some unexplained reason, it was easier than usual for him to tolerate the noise. So he just took it as a small blessing, no use brooding about such trivial things.

Their destination was apparently a phone in the hallway. While Kyouya made a call, Tsu held onto his promise not to cause any trouble and stayed quiet. But after Kyouya ended the call, curiosity won out. “Who was that?”

“I called Tetsu. He is busy with cleaning the street. He looked up where you live. Come, I will bring you home.”

[Tsuna was always amazed at the power Kyouya held in Namimori. Even in elementary school, he already had access to the school files and was apparently feared enough that Tetsu-san could also access them as long as it was to fulfill a task from Kyouya.]

Tsu cheered loudly before clamping his hands over his mouth and meekly apologized. Kyouya thankfully didn’t get angry and simply ignored him.

It was a bit boring, but Tsu remained silent the entire way. He tried not to get distracted by the garden in front of Kyouya’s house. It was really pretty and the big japanese styled house (bigger than anything Tsu had seen) looked like a house from a picture book. Tsu could easily imagine a princess or a prince living in it. Maybe Kyouya was a prince?

Distracted with contemplating, Tsu didn’t see the lamp post and ran straight into it.

Rubbing his face, Tsu peeked through his hands and saw that Kyouya-nii hadn’t waited for him. Not wanting to be left behind, Tsu ignored the pain and ran towards the older boy. Just as Tsu had reached the raven-haired boy, a sniffle escaped the teary-eyed brunette.

Kyouya briefly glanced to his side. Tsunayoshi was of a small stature, had messy (fluffy) looking hair that stuck out in all directions and currently wore slightly smudged and wrinkled clothes (from falling to the ground, being carried like a potato sack and sleeping in them), coupled with his sniffing and watery eyes, Kyouya couldn’t stop comparing his temporary charge to a kicked puppy.

Hibari Kyouya had only one weakness. But as long as he could sufficiently cover that weakness, Kyouya was not too irrationally proud to deny its existence. Which was the reason for his following action.

Tsu was completely taken aback, because in the short time Tsu had known Kyouya-nii he had already learnt what was probably Nii-san’s typical behavior, and patting someone’s head was decidedly not within the frame of typical Kyouya-nii behavior. Tsu abruptly stopped walking in favor of gaping at the older boy.

But the raven haired boy didn’t deign the rather comical sight a reaction. Kyouya simply turned around with his coat swishing dramatically behind him. A moment later, a minuscule smile – barely a muscle twitch upward – found its way on the young skylark’s face in response to the Small Animal’s (rather noisy) scrambling and pleas of “Wait for Tsu please!”

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

Since that day, Tsu had three friends in school. _Three_ whole fingers he could show off proudly to anyone who would ask him how many friends he had. Tsu couldn’t believe his luck. Even after weeks, Tsu still floated on cloud nine.

Before attending school, he only had Kaa-chan and the nice neighbors, even if they were a lot older than him, older even than Kaa-chan! Then Takeshi came along and Ryohei-nii, who insisted on being called “Onii-chan” and who would sometimes come visit the two first years in class. This had happened to the ever growing ire of Tsu’s homeroom teacher, who had already lost count on how many times he had been interrupted by the shout of “Extreme!” in the middle of a lesson.

And now, Tsu even had a third friend, although one who behaved (quite) a bit distant, strange and silent… Who was also a really huge distraction. Whenever Kyouya-nii came into seeing distance, Tsu would feel itchy. He then could even point to the correct direction without looking. Was there not a saying along the lines of ‘burning a hole into someone with their gazes’? Tsu didn’t doubt one bit that it was possible. If there were mystery fires in the colors of the rainbow, then it was not hard to imagine someone being able to burn another person with a simple look. Tsu was really glad Kyouya-nii and anyone else for the matter didn’t want to hurt him like that. Tsu had never been burned when someone looked at him.

Tsu concluded thus, the raven haired boy only wanted to catch Tsu’s attention. Why should Kyouya-nii bother shouting or making a detour, if he could simply make Tsu itchy. Especially since he had overheard others talking about how busy Kyouya-nii was (not in the exact wording, but Tsu was smart and deduced it himself). So he made sure to always wave at the older boy hello. Then Kyouya-nii didn’t have to waste his precious time greeting Tsu.

Tsu was amazed when he learned what “patrol” was, which had been one of Kyouya-nii’s activities people had talked about. Kaa-chan explained the foreign word to him. What the older boy did sounded like something a hero would do. Admiration and awe had filled Tsu. A sliver of disappointment at himself had also snuck up on him, but he shook it off and replaced it with the determination to help the self-appointed prefect in any way Tsu was able to. The first step was always giving his friend a sunny greeting and if the opportunity presented itself, also thank the raven haired boy for everything he was doing in Namimori. Tsu was undeterred by the lack of response. Although he did miss the patting on his head Kyouya-nii had given him on the first day they had met.

Naturally, sooner or later his other two friends would notice the change. But unlike most of the student population, who either thought Tsu was irreparably stupid or crazily fearless and avoided him in fear of getting dragged into catching the demon prefect’s ire as well, his friends immediately wanted to befriend the older boy, too.

Ryohei-nii and Takeshi’s first approach ended with a lot of bruises from being “bitten to death”. While Takeshi imitated Tsu with his wave-greeting from the distance after that, Ryohei-nii saw his “defeat” as a challenge to best the prefect and earn the raven haired boy’s respect. From there on, a strange friendship of sorts developed between the energetic boxer and the tonfa wielding prefect.

´´(O^Q)``

* * *

Tsu would have been content to live in these peaceful days as it had been back then. But alas, one single event threw his life – practically everything – out of the tracks of normalcy. One visit would turn his perception of the world upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Hi guys and gals!  
> It seems so long ago since my last update. I really haven’t got a feel for time anymore. I’m still in the middle (passed the halfway milestone last month!) of my Social Voluntary Year oversees, with limited time and internet.  
> The second half of this chapter was hard to write, because sooo much time had passed between my writing sessions. Not only did I got thrown out of the flow, my mind was already stuck in the future of this story. So yeah… I hope the ending of this chapter didn’t feel too rushed. (I actually wanted to introduce Hana and Kyouko, but I decided against it for now.)  
> Another thing: the middle part is not solely from Tsu’s POV, hope you guys don’t mind. I was experimenting in that part, and later I had no leisure rewriting it into Tsu’s POV again. Sorry for all who wanted strictly one POV.  
> I confess, I wrote all that dialogue, because I was a bit tired of typing the “-” of “Tsu-kun” as well. *sheepish* Oh well, it made sense, didn’t it, so who cares what my ulterior motives were…  
> Thanks to all the readers who have waited patiently and put up with me so far.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. This story was first posted on my fanfiction.net account. Name's Horizon-Dawn.


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